Editorial
The Gist
- Indie brand mindset. Embracing an indie brand approach allows retailers to innovate and connect with customers in unique ways that drive loyalty.
- Community engagement strategy. Building a community around your brand fosters deeper connections, making customers feel valued and increasing their lifetime loyalty.
- Data-driven insights. Relying on real customer data, rather than assumptions, enables brands to enhance customer experiences and address unmet needs effectively.
CHICAGO — Talk, Shop Talk. That’s right -– just like Bond, James Bond.
You may be wondering: What do shoptalk and James Bond have to do with each other? Well, I’m glad you asked. Let me debrief you with some intelligence from the secret mission I just returned from.
I landed literally 30 minutes before writing this; I rushed home and opened my laptop with pure excitement because I couldn’t wait to write this recap about the first ever Shoptalk Fall held in Chicago last week. I consider myself a conference journeyman of sorts. I’ve seen them all, and anytime a new event comes around, I can’t wait to see what intelligence I can pick up and hear what folks are talking about.
And let me say, Shoptalk Fall did not disappoint.
Walking into the event itself was quite a memorable experience. You enter a weaving corridor with all kinds of spy machines, encryption machines, lights and smoke — think James Bond visiting Q’s lab to see what new spy gadgets he’s cooked up for 007. At the end of the corridor, you arrive at the show floor, filled with vendors who are excited to share secrets of their own.
As I navigated my way to the main stage, I couldn’t help but hear the faint but ever-growing sound of the James Bond Theme song. You know the one. As I made my way closer, I started to realize that this song was being played by a live band.
As I took my seat, I realized that this wasn’t like any other conference I’ve been to before. Sophie Wawro, Mike Antonecchia and Joe Laszlo from Shoptalk entered the stage -– almost in M-like fashion, ready to debrief us all on the mission -– and the true theme of Shoptalk Fall 2024 became apparent. The energy in the room almost felt like the early days of internet shopping, where new and legacy brands alike were ecstatic to leverage a new channel to connect with customers in ways that had not been done before.
Retail Trends: Embracing an Indie Brand Mindset
Why do we love indie music so much? It’s because it’s typically something we haven’t heard before. It’s familiar, yet uniquely different. The same holds true with up-and-coming indie brands.
Attendees heard from Rent The Runway Founder and CEO Jennifer Hyman, who described this perfectly: “Today, indie brands control most of the fashion space. Indie brands will become the new mainstream. You can become a $100 million brand by a 13-year-old talking about your products on TikTok.”
Touche, Jennifer.
Social Media > Ads
Social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram give consumers access to products that are niche and unique. Before social media, consumers would discover brands by shopping at the mall or seeing an ad.
Social media upends this by giving influencers and customers the ability to meet in the middle. There’s thousands of examples of niche brands that exploded with popularity because of a viral TikTok that had someone talking about their product.
All brands need to accept the reality that many of their target demographics are finding, digesting and purchasing products based upon what they see on social channels. Having an indie brand mindset means following these retail trends, thinking differently and taking risks.
For Jennifer, her brand Rent The Runway did something no other fashion brand did previously. She provided a service that gave customers the ability to rent clothes rather than purchase them.
“Women are shopping with us for the variety. They want to take more risks and be more bold. Renting clothes gives them that ability,” she said. “Brands need to try new things, just like customers want to try new things. People are more open to experiment, and brands should too because it keeps things fresh.”
She’s right. Consumers desire to have experiences with their favorite brands, but in new ways, with new products. This is the key for customer loyalty and longevity. Give them experiences that are new, fresh and different, and as they evolve, so will their brand perception.
Related Article: Scaling Your Small Business — and the Marketing, Customer Experience Impact
Retail Trends: Fostering Community and Connection
The three Cs (community, connection and customers) should be the top priority to build thoughtful, engaging and relatable conversations between your brand and customers. We heard from Glossier CEO Kyle Leahy on how they aim to achieve this.
“We’re a community-based brand that’s focused on how our products make people feel. Our brand gives our customers the ability to be bigger than themselves. It’s a community,” Kyle said. “Our customers come to us because of the community that we have curated. We listen to our customers [and] to the community. We tell women’s stories, showcasing ‘real life’ through beauty.”
Glossier is a perfect example of the three Cs. They have worked tirelessly to build a community of customers who all share the same affinity for the Glossier brand. They can connect with each other through the brand. This is what creates lifelong customers for Glossier.
Kyle goes on to talk about how they enable the herd mentality: “We respond to every single comment or post on social. Our brand is in constant dialogue and feedback loops. We truly believe 1+1=10.”
Even more impressive is their emphasis on localization and personalized customer experience. They aim to fill up their local store fronts with local apparel and products -– pulling at the heart strings of the community and giving customers that “feel-good feeling’” when entering a store that supports folks in the local community.
But Glossier doesn’t stop there. In fact, they take a page from the spy books on one of their newer product releases: a fragrance called Glossier You. The bottle is designed ergonomically in a way that the customer needs to use your thumbprint to spray it on. In a sense, the customer is the missing piece that pulls it all together, and, as Glossier claims, it smells a little different on everyone.
This is another great example of leveraging a connection to build a community of customers. There are numerous videos on TikTok where customers talk about how it smells different on them compared to their friends. This is a perfect example of following retail trends to create buzz, curiosity and inspiration to encourage customers to purchase.
Related Article: Creator Economy Buzz Meets Partner Economy Strategy
Retail Trends: Using Data to Delight Customers
Most brands feel as though they are quite successful in meeting and exceeding customer expectations. Brendan Witcher, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester, feels differently.
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Brendan told attendees, “Most customers don’t feel surprised, or delighted at all. They feel just ‘meh’ about the experiences they have. Brands need real data to truly understand their customers, and many brands are being run [based on] opinions, not data.”
Brendan is right. Creative decisions on how to delight customers need to be born out of what the true, real data is telling you. Nobody knows your customer as well as your customer, and your customer is telling you everything through their behaviors, actions and (more importantly) inactions.
If you want to grow, you need to look at the customers who aren’t your top revenue drivers. “Growth comes from the people on your site who aren’t buying from you,” Brendan said.
Brendan cracked the code to how to achieve this with his 6C strategy, which outlines six key customer data elements to focus on: characteristics, considerations, curiosities, conditions, context and conceptions.
If you truly want to attract and retain new customers, you must look at the data you have and go deep within the 6C areas that Brendan outlined.
Major Takeaways From Shoptalk Fall
Here’s where the rubber meets the road, where the vodka meets the martini. I left Shoptalk Fall feeling inspired by the energy and enthusiasm of the show. Everyone that I talked to had a “David and Goliath” mindset. There was a strong sense of enthusiasm and energy among attendees, reflecting their eagerness to build deeper connections with customers.
Whether you’re a small brand just starting out or a large brand who is established, one thing remains true. In order to survive and thrive, you must listen to your customers and follow relevant retail trends. After all, they’re the ones keeping the lights on. Look deep into your data and find ways to build communities and connections. Try to think like that scrappy brand who comes out of nowhere and who’s just one TikTok away from viral, visceral success.
And if all else fails, do what James Bond would do. While a stirred martini might be more traditional and by the book, order your martini shaken — something that is unconventional, unique and exciting.
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